[Coral-List] pumice raft will not save the Great Barrier Reef

tomascik at novuscom.net tomascik at novuscom.net
Tue Sep 3 22:05:35 UTC 2019


I appreciate your thoughtful reply.
Tomas

>> “If significant progress is going to be made in addressing the decline
>> of
>> the GBR then we need to approach the problem in a holistic way, and not
>> on
>> a threat-by-threat basis”.
>
>  Ideally that would be the best way to approach the problem,  but
> considering the magnitude of the crisis at hand, perhaps a threat by
> threat approach would be more prudent. As with triage, in the case of
> life-threatening injuries threats are to be addressed by priority. Many
> have surmised that the very breadth and magnitude of the problems
> affecting the GBR (and other reefs world-wide) contributes to inaction.
> How can we expect societies to address problem A, B and C when problem A
> in and of itself seems almost insurmountable? While we are on the
> subject, under these circumstances there is little benefit (beyond making
> us temporarily feel good) to shift focus to less threatening problems D,
> E and F just because they are easier fixes.
>
> I believe that we should focus on climate change not only because it is
> the #1 stressor/threat, but because IF we can win people over to accepting
> that reality it will become easier to adjust mindsets to go on to address
> water quality, over-fishing and all the rest. Put another way, I’m
> afraid that expecting societies to take on a multitude of critical
> threats-all at one time-is simply asking too much.
>
> As to why consensus statements haven’t been more fully embraced, perhaps
> it is because mobilizing the scientific community is, as others have said,
> like herding cats!  I expected the 2012 ICRS consensus statement
> (http://www.icrs2012.com/Consensus_Statement.htm) to have major impacts
> and bring about fundamental change, but it too appears to have quickly
> faded from our collective memories.
>
> Regards,
> Steve Mussman
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>>
>>
>> -------- Original message --------
>> From: Tomas via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
>> Date: 9/2/19 9:13 AM (GMT-05:00)
>> To: Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
>> Cc: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
>> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] pumice raft will not save the Great Barrier
>> Reef
>>
>> The media tries to sensationalize just about everything these days, so
>> it
>> is good to see that some media outlets are trying to keep it realistic.
>> But, even the CBC.ca article is based on too few facts. It is
>> frustrating
>> to keep reading stuff like
>>
>> "The two main problems facing the Great Barrier Reef — which are
>> elevated temperatures and lower pH…….,",
>>
>> when we know that the reasons for the decline in the health of the GBR
>> over the decades are much more complex.
>>
>> In their 2017 Scientific Consensus Statement Waterhouse et al (2017)
>> stated the overarching consensus is that:
>>
>> "Key Great Barrier Reef ecosystems continue to be in poor condition.
>> This
>> is largely due to the collective impact of land run-off associated with
>> past and ongoing catchment development, coastal development activities,
>> extreme weather events and climate change impacts such as the 2016 and
>> 2017 coral bleaching events."
>>
>> https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319735304_2017_Scientific_Consensus_Statement_A_synthesis_of_the_science_of_land-based_water_quality_impacts_on_the_Great_Barrier_Reef_Chapter_5_Overview_of_key_findings_management_implications_and_knowledge_ga
>>
>> This report (Chapter 5 of the 2017 Scientific Consensus Statement)
>> reflects what has been known as far back as 1990 through Peter Bell’s
>> work
>>
>> (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/004313549290228V)
>>
>> on the eutrophication of the GBR as a result of land-based development.
>> A
>> 2016 article in “The Conversation” stated the following:
>>
>> “Poor water quality – along with climate change, fishing, coastal
>> development – is one of the major threats to the reef. Due to the
>> cumulative impacts of these threats, the condition of the Great Barrier
>> Reef has deteriorated over past decades.”
>>
>> http://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-pollution-controls-are-not-enough-heres-what-we-can-do-52861
>>
>> If significant progress is going to be made in addressing the decline of
>> the GBR then we need to approach the problem in a holistic way, and not
>> on
>> a threat-by-threat basis. Yes we must keep addressing the climate
>> change,
>> but if we forget the more proximate causes for the GBR decline our
>> climate
>> change solutions will probably not matter much. I would like to point
>> out
>> that the Scientific Consensus Statement report was published in 2017,
>> and
>> yet 2 years later I have not found a single reference to this report in
>> coral reef papers published in scientific journals on this topic. WHY?
>>
>> Tomas
>>
>>
>>> No, this island of pumice will not help save the Great Barrier Reef
>>>
>>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/great-barrier-reef-pumice-raft-1.5261123
>>>
>>> (Among other things, the raft would have to be near a coral reef just
>>> at
>>> the right time for spawning to occur for it to get many coral larvae to
>>> attach to the pumice.  Which is very unlikely.  There is documentation
>>> that
>>> corals can attach to the larger pieces of pumice and be carried over
>>> long
>>> distances.  If you look along the stranding line on beaches in
>>> Australia
>>> you can find such pumice even when we don't know of any such rafts.
>>> When
>>> I
>>> did it, all I could find were small pieces of pumice a few cm diameter
>>> or
>>> less, and I never found a single one with a coral attached.  Granted I
>>> didn't spend a lot of time looking, and I searched maybe 100 m at most,
>>> of
>>> beaches which stretch for perhaps 3500 km.  Plus, in order to seed any
>>> larvae on the reef, a piece of pumice would have to be large enough and
>>> have floated long enough for the coral to have grown to reproductive
>>> size
>>> without having sunk the pumice from its weight, and would have to be
>>> close
>>> enough to a reef during spawning season to have larvae from the colony
>>> on
>>> the pumice settle on the reef.  (or to happen to reach the exact size
>>> needed to sink the pumice right when it was over the reef, instead of
>>> somewhere else in the vast ocean).  Far more likely to be floating way
>>> out
>>> at sea or hard up on the stranding line on the beach dead from
>>> desiccation.  It was a nice idea, but the number of new corals brought
>>> to
>>> the reef by pumice is likely to be infinitesimal compared to the size
>>> of
>>> the reef.  Enough, however, to at some point in a long period of time,
>>> possibly carry a coral to a new location outside its former range.  But
>>> that's very different from reseeding a huge population on a vast reef
>>> system.)
>>>
>>> Jokiel, P.L.  1989.  Rafting of reef organisms and other organisms at
>>> Kwajelein Atoll.  Marine Biology 101: 483-493.
>>>
>>> Jokiel PL  (1990)  Long-distance dispersal by rafting: re-emergence of
>>> an
>>> old hypothesis.  Endeavour 14: 66-73.
>>>
>>> Jokiel, P.L. and Martinelli, F.J.  1992.  The vortex model of coral
>>> reef
>>> biogeography.  Journal of Biogeography 449-458.
>>>
>>> Cheers, Doug
>>> --
>>> Douglas Fenner
>>> Ocean Associates, Inc. Contractor
>>> NOAA Fisheries Service
>>> Pacific Islands Regional Office
>>> Honolulu
>>> and:
>>> Consultant
>>> PO Box 7390
>>> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
>>>
>>> A call to climate action  (Science editorial)
>>> https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6443/807?utm_campaign=toc_sci-mag_2019-05-30&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=2840296
>>>
>>> New book "The Uninhabitable Earth"  First sentence: "It is much, much
>>> worse
>>> than you think."
>>> Read first (short) chapter open access:
>>> https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/read-a-chapter-from-the-uninhabitable-earth-a-dire-warning-on-climate-change
>>>
>>> Want a Green New Deal?  Here's a better one.
>>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/want-a-green-new-deal-heres-a-better-one/2019/02/24/2d7e491c-36d2-11e9-af5b-b51b7ff322e9_story.html?utm_term=.a3fc8337cbf8
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
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>>
>>
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